Thursday, August 20, 2009

Common Sense on MPs' Pay

Sir patrick Cormack looks so much like a parody of a Conservative MP- overweight with ponderous jowls, establisment, boring before he's even spoken- it is hard to take him seriously. But I think we ought to on the subject of MPs' pay. In the linked article he suggests they should receive £130,000 a year, double what they get now and over six times the national average salary. 'Ridiculous!' I hear people say, 'they just don't get it'. And of course many of them don't.

But how much should they get? Clearly the expenses will have to be reformed and reduced, especially the second homes allowance. Maybe MPs should return to overnight allowances, rather than the easily exploited support for a flat or house. However, there is some merit in setting a 'proper' salary for MPs and expecting them , like the rest of us, to cope on substantially that. Cormack, supported by Hogg though only to the tune of £100,000, suggests essentially that: pay a flat rate and abolish all expenses apart from staff and constituency offices. It might work but I think the 'headline' salary is too high to be politically acceptable at the present time. Hogg is closer to it.

I have said on this blog that I think nobody should enter politics who wants to get rich and I think that still stands. There is no shortage of candidates but it's the right kind of people with real abiliy who are needed- New Labiour has been severely short of quality ministers for example. If we lived in an ideal world public spirited people would step forward and do the job for the average wage only- as, to their credit, the two Militant Labour MPs (Terry Fields and Pat Wall) did during the eighties. But we do not live in the ideal world. Able people who might otherwise serve are deterred by a salary which would not keep them plus family in reasonable comfort. So we have to set a level which hits a happy medium between what is needed to attract good people and what the public thinks is excessive.

I think Derek Wyatt- former England rugby palyer by the way- has got it about right: all expenses should be scrapped and that pay should rise to £80,000 for inner London MPs and £95,000 for those with constituencies outside this area. I think we'd all be able to live with that.

It is complicated. I guess there are a few points. 65k a year for legislators of a serious country to live in London just isn't enough. But given the distruction of the role of Parliament by Presidential style government, they aren't legislators anyway. The Second Home Allowance was a tacit admission of this. However it is tainted by the disgraceful and criminal behaviour of MPs over expenses.

Also, why are there so many MPs? I wouldn't object to paying them more if there were less of the buggers. 645? Ridiculous. Other much larger countries have far fewer. In addition we all know that we are governed by Germans masquerading as Europe and the Scottish Raj anyway. Add the local mafias(councils) and unelected quangos and we are overgoverned.

Solution: get back our government from Brussels or Nuremburg or wherever else the soul of the EU is. Abolish the assemblies and sack the likes of Salmond and other people who live to destroy this country. That such characters(Adams and the IRA crew as well) are paid a salary from public money is disgusting. Get rid of most of the MPs. We only need 150. Then you have the means to pay them more. Make laws that empower backbenchers over parties. Then you have a case for paying them more, and abolishing the allowances. I think 200k a year would be reasonable. But until our MPs actually do more than rubber stamp German laws and Gordy's whims, then they deserve such an awful salary.

I live in Swansea I was ordered after my accident to return to work, I used the job center, Blair then stated the work area from all around the country that had a direct railways line should be within the London catchment area, I was told to find work in London and travel to work. hour a day traveling was acceptable.

The Swansea MP travels to London he claimed £5000 in expenses thats all, 10 miles down the road my MP had expenses of £23,500.

She stated traveling from London where she lives was to great for her she had to spend the night in a hotel and eat out.

Funny old world, oh by the way they had to remove London from my catchment area, you cannot use a wheelchair on my station, you have to cross a bridge which has twenty three steps.

But the train fare was £125 return the job paid £45 a day.

I love the stupidity of the New Labour party even the leader is as thick as a brick.

About Me

I was born in the Welsh borderlands and grew up in Shrewsbury. Then to Aberystwyth University before working in the admin class of the civil service for a couple of unhappy years. Then got job at Manchester University which I loved. I became Director Extra-Mural Studies 1986-91 and then had a stroke while out jogging. Retired on medical grounds but still teach and write a good deal. Recently took up a part-time position in politics at Liverpool Hope University. Why Skipper? Legacy of captaining a post-graduate cricket team at university.